The gains in three dimensions of customer experience—Emotion, Ease, and Effectiveness—were under 5% but every point counts now.

Financial services brands in Singapore, especially in the banking sector, had improved in all three dimensions of CX quality, according to a report by market research group Forrester.

Banks edged out the auto/home insurers for the most effective experiences: 51% of banking customers said that the CX was effective, versus only 40% for auto/home insurers. DBS Bank saw the biggest year-over-year gain of 4.2 points, which earns them the top spot in the banking sector and in the overall report rankings. Among the insurers, new entrant FWD took top spot.

The Singapore 2020 Customer Experience Index (CX Index) focuses on the quality of customer experience among the financial services brands across the multichannel banking and automotive/home insurance industries. Overall, the overall quality of customer experience had improved by three percentage points, with six out of eight returning brands showing improved scores.

The data also shows that customers experience has a bigger influence on loyalty to a brand than effectiveness or ease. In the multichannel banking industry, among customers who felt valued, 52% planned to stay with the brand, 59% planned to increase spending with the brand, and 70% said they would recommend the brand to their family or friends.

In contrast, among banking customers who did not feel valued, just 23% planned to stay with the brand, 6% planned to increase spending with the brand, and only 2% would advocate for the brand.

Opined Forrester principal analyst Tom Mouhsian: “While the improvement of CX quality in Singapore is encouraging, brands that want to further differentiate themselves and strengthen their appeal to customers should focus on creating emotionally-positive experiences for their customers to boost loyalty. Even a minor improvement to a brand’s customer experience quality can have a positive impact on revenue, by reducing customer churn and increasing share of wallet, which is especially important in the current economic climate.”